StartUp Fashion Week 2016, a week like no other…

Startup Fashion Week 2016 started off with a bang during it’s Launch Party last Monday at Nest in Toronto. Media were able to come out earlier to mix and mingle, interact with fellow individuals, and had an opportunity to meet and interview fashion designers, and get a sneak peek of their collections (as seen above).

I had the opportunity to speak with Founder Jodi Goodfellow, a teacher at heart who started Startup Fashion week as an opportunity to support local entrepreneurs and to showcase emerging fashion start-ups within the city of Toronto. With a week long series of events, Jodi gives entrepreneurs an in-depth look into what it takes to have a career in the Toronto fashion industry.

I was able to attend most of the week’s events, with the exception of the Fashion Tech Forum on Thursday. Here are my key highlights from this year’s Startup Fashion Week.

Key Learnings from the Business of Fashion Conference:

For Textiles, Accessory, & Handbag Brands you need to reach Premiere Vision Paris if you would like to be included in designer collections around the world.

If you are thinking of being a full-time entrepreneur, make sure you have enough money set aside to sustain yourself in case your business doesn’t make money in the first few months

Make sure that if you are going to be in the spotlight, and reviewed by the media, that you know what do with it afterwards, otherwise it doesn’t mean anything

Fashion Designers need to make sure that they protect their work so that there is no possibility of the idea of it being “stolen” and “created” by someone else

Always strive to create or to have an idea that is 100% authentically you. Don’t do something to please the masses, because then it will end up being mainstream, and not true to why you started or created that piece to begin with

To always remember that nobody asked you to be an entrepreneur. It’s something that you strive to be, and that having a business is a lifestyle, not a job.

On Wednesday night, many turned up for the Fashion Forum. An experience of two panels including everyone from a Fashion Blogger to Buyer to Designer to Editor in Chief of a magazine, here into Toronto, to demonstrate the ins and outs of the Fashion industry. For someone not in the fashion industry, you would have gained a full understanding of everything that it takes for a garment to reach the public from inception.

My stand-out reference from the Fashion Forum:

I have lived by this quote for so many years, and when Janielle McKoy said it, I immediately resonated with her words. Finally, a women who understood what I have been trying to showcase for years! Bravo!

The Friday Runway Finale show was a spectacle that had to be seen in person. The pictures do not do the designers justice. I am in awe, and hope to one day wear the clothing myself. I was able to interact with the designers first hand, and can see the work and emotion that goes into these designs.

Throughout the week, I was able to interact and make many new connections. As a Startup myself with DivaGirl Fashion Toronto, a community for female entrepreneurs, I was left inspired with many tips to make myself better as a fashion entrepreneur, and the DivaGirl community stronger.

Startup Fashion Week continues next year in Montreal. To keep up to date on all news, make sure you follow them on social media:

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Fashionable Foodie Toronto, established in 2013, became a way for Founder Caryn Parchment, to showcase all things fashion & food from Toronto and around the world. Based in Toronto, Canada, Fashionable Foodie Toronto reports on fashion events, food events, designer collaborations, new restaurant openings, trends and more.